Whistleblower nominated for Nobel Prize

Edward Snowden was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian politicians, including a former government minister, for contributing to transparency and global stability by exposing a US surveillance programme.

“The public debate and changes in policy that have followed in the wake of Snowden’s whistleblowing have contributed to a more stable and peaceful world order,” Norwegian parliamentarians Snorre Valen and Baard Vegar Solhjell said in the nomination letter.

Snowden, 30, fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia after leaking classified documents on the US National Security Agency spying programmes. He faces charges of theft and espionage and is in Russia on temporary asylum. US attorney general Eric Holder said last week that, if Snowden wanted to return to the US and plead guilty, prosecutors would be willing to negotiate.